PETALING JAYA: The National Patriots Association (Patriot) today called on the chief of defence forces to investigate the role played by the director of military intelligence in allegedly drumming up support for former prime minister Najib Razak ahead of the May 9 general election.

Patriot president Brig-Gen (Rtd) Mohamed Arshad Raji said the group had earlier demanded the director’s resignation in the event that the allegations were proven.

“But as of today, we are told that he is still holding on to his post,” he said in a statement.

He added that the director had not denied the allegations against him, neither had an investigation been made to establish the truth of the matter.

Three weeks after the election which saw Pakatan Harapan sweeping to a shock victory over Barisan Nasional (BN), Arshad said Patriot had received “incriminating WhatsApp messages” on the role of the office of the department of military intelligence (DMI), including claims that it had worked to shore up support for Najib.

He called for the office of the DMI to be investigated over claims that it had “authorised the employment of the cyber defence operation centre for the monitoring of phone calls, social media, Facebook and emails that were deemed to be in opposition to the then-BN government”.

He also called for answers over whether military facilities had been used to engage in “covert propaganda activities” to discredit opposition political parties and opposition politicians during the run-up to the election.

In his statement today, Arshad also questioned the lack of action against the top intelligence officer under the Najib Razak administration who became embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that she had written to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) allegedly seeking its support to keep Najib in power.

He said it had been 10 days since the group made a police report against Hasanah Ab Hamid, who led a unit under the Research Division of the Prime Minister’s Department.

“We are keen to know the status of our report, whether an investigation has been made, and if an arrest is necessary.

“We were told that Hasanah has resigned from her post and her whereabouts are unknown.

“The question that needs to be answered by the investigating authority now is why hasn’t Hasanah been arrested over the letter that we deem treacherous and treasonous? Does the investigating authority feel that the contents of her letter are not serious enough to warrant her arrest?”

The letter in question, signed by Hasanah, was said to be written on behalf of the “Malaysian External Intelligence Organization (MEIO)”.

It was written on May 4, just days before the 14th general election.

The letter, addressed to CIA director Gina Haspel, described Najib as a friend of the US as opposed to the “anti-West, anti-Semite” Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who chairs Pakatan Harapan.

On July 31, Hasanah defended herself from accusations of treason, the letter was “drafted, vetted and analysed” by no fewer than 10 senior officers under her.

She also said it had been made in good faith, and that it was normal to exchange letters between intelligence agencies.